Power transmission mechanism



Feb. 23, 1937,

P. M.4S ALERI\YII 2,071,582

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 1, I932 mmvrox PIE/F0 AM PM N0 SALEAW/ ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 23, 1 937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I must POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Piero Mariano Saleml, Westminste England application August 1, 1932, Serial No. 627,196. Divided and this application October 18, 1985, Serial No. 45,581. In Great Brltain Auglllt 18, 1931 v s can. (01. 192-67) .This application is a division of my application device, such as that shown at l. The counterfor Power transmission mechanism Serial No. shaft is also provided with a gear 9 adapted to 627,196, flied August 1, 1932, and relates to cooperate with a slidable idler gear "which in clutches of the positive interengaging type. turn is adapted to cooperate with gear ll splined 5 One of the objects of my invention is to proto the driven shaft. The idler gear, when in its duce a positive clutch device embodying improved operative relation with gears 9 and H, produces means for preventing engagement of the teeth the reverse geared drive of the change speed gearthereof until the driving and driven elements of ing. Idler gear III is suitably shifted by lever I! the clutch have attained substantially synchrocontrolled by the usual gear sliift lever (not 10 nous speeds. shown). The change speed gear also includes A more specific object is to provide a balking other speed ratios but these are not shown as means for preventing one. of the elements of a they in no way affect the operation of my clutch positive clutch from engaging the other element device at the rear of the gearing and it is, thereuntil the elements are substantially synchronized, fore,- believed unnecessary to disclose and dethe balldng means being controlled by the other scribe their operation.

element through a one-way driving connection Theend of the driven shaft I has secured thereand a friction connection whereby the balking to a driving member l8 of the clutch device promeans will only be operated when substantial vided with jaws or teeth It. The propeller shaft synchronism is attained and inJury to the balkwh h is eonneeted t0 h W l Of th V ing means and its controlling connection is pre-' hicle, is journaled in the end of the housing 8 vented in the event the elements of the clutch and ext n into t n the d vin member do not engage at the proper time. II where it is provided with an additional bear- Still another object of my invention is to proins T P n of t P p l Shh-1tv w vide means for disabling the baiting means which in the chamber 4 is formed with splines ll u on prevents engagement of the clutch elements which is slidably and n t y m u t whereby when the elements are not rotating, they driven member I. of the clutch device and promay be freely engaged. vided with laws or teeth IS. The driving mem- Other objects of my invention will become apber II and the driven member ll form the usual parent from the following descrlption taken in elements of a positive jaw clutch and when the connection with the accompanying drawing, teeth and" areinintereng s r i n D w showing a single embodiment thereof, in which may be tre-hl r m th d v Shift t the Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of my propellershaft, and when they are in novel clutch device as interposed between a relle l w i Fi the On change speed gearing and the propeller shaft r of power is inten'uptedbetween the driven shaft a power mechanism; Figure 2 is a of the'gearin8 an the Propeller face view of the driving clutch member and as- When the teeth of the driving and driven sociatedpartatheupperhalfofthengure mw. membersaredisengagedanditisdesiredtoreingthebalkingrinsremovetriguresigara engagethem.itisnthattheyberotatview of the driven member of the clutch device; inset substantially synchronous sp 11 a sm 0 and Figure 4 is a developed view showing the ree sas i8 accompllflhedy nw Speed lationship of the lugs on the balking ring and on between two shafts is so seldom attained and of the driven clutch member when the b lking ri g such short duration that if it is desired to elimiis active. nate a clashing of the teeth, it is necessary to pro- Although I have shown my clutch device eomvide some means to pr t t i en age e t binedw1thachangegpeedgearlng,1twillbeununtilsynchronismisattained. Inaccordanee derstood that it may be used in other combinawith my invention I have provided means for pretions or where it is desired to engage and disventing nga men 1 the teeth and ii n engage two rotating elements, therefore, the clashing 0f the teeth until synlteferrlng to the drawing in detail, the portion hr nism has been attained. of the change speed gearing disclosed comprises The slidable driven member I8 is formed with a driven shaft I iournaled in a partition I of the alternate seating members 20 and 20', thesememhousing 3 and extending into chamber 4 which bers coinciding with teeth It on the driven memis occupied .by my no i clutch device. The ber. The driving member It carries a ring 2| change speed gearing has the usual counter-shaft by means of suitable anti-friction balls 22 and 5 upon which is mounted a gear .8 in constant this ring is adapted tobe connectedtothe driving mesh with a gear I rotatably mounted upon the member by means of a one-way roller clutch 28 driven shaft I. Intheent of gearing which permits the ring to be driven by the disclosed, gear! 8 and I comprise thelow speed, drivingmember llonlyinthedirectioninwhich gearratioandisoperablewhengearlisconthedrivenshaftlofthechangespeedgearing 'so ectedtothedrivensbaftbyasuitableclutch is normaiIydriven-that is, the direction inoo which the driven shaft is rotating when the gearing is in a forward speed. The ring 2| has formed thereon a conical friction surface 24 which receives the annular portion 25 of a balk ing or synchronizer ring 26. This annular portion 25 has a conical friction surface for cooperation with the conical friction surface 24 and is held in cooperating position by means of the snap ring 21. The synchronizer ring 26 is formed with a plurality of spaced lugs 28 for cooperation with seatings 20 on the driven member and also with alternate lugs 29, of greater length than lugs 28. These latter lugs 29 are adapted to extend into the space between seatings 20 and 20' and are of a width less than the distance between the seatings 20 and 20' in order to permit the synchronizer ring to move relatively to the driven member sufliciently to allow the lugs 28 to either engage with the seatings 20 or to be received in the space between the seatings 20 and 20'.

The slidable driven member I8 is controlled by a suitable shifting fork 30 carried on shaft 3| in the housing. 'The shaft extends to the exterior housing and is provided with a suitable lever 32 controlled by a rod 33 which rod may be connected to a pedal such as that employed to control the fluid transmitter shown in my original application.

In the operation of my novel device, when it is desired to disengage the teeth I4 and I9 of the driving and driven members in order to disconnect the gearing from the propeller shaft when a change of gear ratio is to be effected, rod 33 is actuated and the slidable driven member I8 moved to the right by the shifting fork and into disengaged position, as shown in Figure 1. After the change of gear ratio has been efiected and moved toward the driving member I3 to effect the engagement. At this time the driven member I8 will be rotating faster than the driving member I3, due to the speed of the vehicle, and is prevented from engagement with the latter by means of lugs 28 on the interposed synchronizer ring 26 which is rotated with and by the driven member by means of the lugs 29 so long as the speed of the driven member exceeds that of the driving member, the synchronizer ring freewheeling relatively to the driving member by means of the one-way roller clutch. The relative positions of the lugs on the balking ring and the driven clutch member l8 under the above conditions are as shown in Figure 4. Owing to the driven member being acted upon by the return spring (not shown) the conical friction surfaces of the synchronizer ring and the ring 2| are caused to be pressed together so that the two rings rotate freely relatively to the driving member. Upon accelerating the driving member through the driven shaft I of the change speed gearing (by speeding up the engine) and upon said coupling member tending to rotate faster than the driven member it will, due to the friction existing between the aforesaid conical friction surfaces of the ring 2| and the synchronizer ring 26, rotationally displace the latter so that the seatings 28, holding the driven coupling member in disengaged position, are rotationally displaced thereby allowing the driven coupling member to engage with the driving member under the influence of the return spring. Ijhus the teeth on the driven coupling member engage with those on the driving member in order to establish a positive bi-directional drive. Under the provision of the cooperating conical friction surfaces between the synchronizer ring and the ring 2|, a friction slip is provided which is desirable and necessary in order to prevent any tendency of the driven coupling member to be rotated by the synchronizer ring through the one-way roller device, which might occur in the event the teeth do not engage at the time substantial synchronism is attained. It is thus seen that by providing both a one-way roller connection and a friction connection between the driving member and the synchronizer ring, there is no danger of power being transmitted from the driving member to the driven member through the one-way rollers and the synchronizer ring which would result in breakage of the mechanism. Also, because of this type of connection between the driving member and the synchronizer ring the wear on the friction connection is reduced to a minimum since no slippage takes place until the driving member picks up the ring 2| by means of the one-way roller connection.

When the reverse gear of the change speed gearing is employed it is desirable that the driving and driven members of the clutch device engage immediately 'after the reverse gear has been engaged. Since the reverse gear is generally engaged when the vehicle is stopped, it becomes necessary to provide means to displace the synchronizer ring to a position where the lugs thereof will permit free engagement of the teeth. The structure shown to accomplish this displacement of the synchronizer ring comprises a sleeve 34 slidably mounted on the seatings 20 and 20 of the driven member and splined against relative rotation thereto. This sleeve has formed thereon projecting portions provided with cam surfaces 35 arranged to co-act with cam surfaces 36 formed on lugs 29. The sleeve is adapted to be moved only by the reverse gear shifting lever I2 through a shifting fork 31 and a connecting rod 38.

When the gear shifting lever I2 is operated to engage the reverse idler gear ID, the sleeve 34 will be moved to the left and the synchronizer ring will be shifted rotationally by means of the cooperating cam surfaces 35 and 36 to a position where thelugs 28 on the synchronizer ring will be received between-the seatings 20 and 20'. With the synchronizer ring in this position, when the slidable element is permitted to engage, the synchronizer ring will offer no impediment to its movement to the engaged position where the teeth I4 and I9 are in cooperative relation. When the gear shifting lever I2 is not operated, the sleeve 34 is held in the inoperative position, as shown in Figure 1, and the ring is not afiected thereby.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a clutch device, a driving member, a driven member, said members being provided with interengaging parts and adapted for relative axial movement to permit engagement and disengagement of said interengaging Darts, means for preventing engagement of said parts until the driving and driven members have attained substantially preventing means comprising an element rotatable'with one of said members of the clutch but capable of limited relative rotative movement synchronous speeds, said thereto, cooperating means on said element and said last named clutch member for ,reventing said clutch member from engaging the other clutch member when said element is in one position andpermitting the clutch members to engage when the element is in another position, connecting means between the said element and the other member of the clutch and comprising a one-way driving connection and a friction connection whereby said element may be moved to the position permitting nt of the clutch members when said clutch members attain substantially synchronous speeds.

2. In a clutch device, a driving member, a driven member, said members being provided with interengag ng parts and adapted for relative axial movement to permit engagement and disengagement oi said interengaging parts, means for preventing engagement of said parts until the driving and driven members have attained substantially synchronous speeds, said preventing means comprising an element rotatable with one of said members of the clutch but capable of limited relative rotative movement thereto, cooperating means on said element and said last named clutch member for preventing said clutch member from engaging the other clutch member when said element is in one position and permitting the clutch members to engage when the element is in another position, a second element frictionally engageable by the first named element, and a one-way driving connection between the second element and the other member of the clutch whereby said second element may be moved by said other clutch member and thereby move the first element to the position permitting engagement of the clutch members when said clutch members attain substantially synchronous peeds.

3. In a positive clutch device, a driving memher, a slidable driven member, said members being provided with interengaging teeth, means preventing engagement ofthe teeth until'the members attain substantially synchronous speeds, said'means comprising a synchronizer ring rotatable with the driven member but capable of limited relative rotation thereto, said synchronizer ring and driven member being provided with cooperating means whereby when the ringisinonepositiontheteethofthedriven member are prevented from engagin the teeth ofthe driving member, a ring capable of frictionally driving the synchronizer ring, and a one-wayroller connection between the ring and the driving member whereby the driving member.

is capable of frictionally moving the synchroniaer ring to the position permitting engagement of the driven member with the driving member only when the driving member rotates at a slightly greater speed than the driven member.

4. In a positive clutch deviee,a driving member, a slidable'driven member, said members bein provided t in teeth, means for preventing engagement of teeth until the members attain substantially synchronous speeds, said means comprising a synchronise! ring carried by the driving member and rotatable with the driven member but capable of limited relative rotation thereto, said driven member first element to the position synchronilerringand. beingprovidedwithcooperating are permitted to engage, a ring mounted on the driving member and frictionally engaging the synchronizer ring, and a one-way roller connection between the driving member and the ring whereby the driving member may frictionally rotate the synchronizer ring through the ring to move the synchronizer to the position permitting the driven member to engage the driving member only when said members are rotating at substantially synchronous speeds. I 5. In a clutch device, a driving member, a driven member, said members being provided with interengaging parts and adapted for relative axial movement to permit engagement and disengagement of said interengaging parts, means for preventing engagement of said parts until the driving and driven members have attained substantially synchronous speeds, said preventing means comprising an element rotatable with one of said members of the clutch but capable oflimited relative rotative movement thereto and provided with means whereby in one position it prevents said member from engaging the other member and in the other position permits the engagement, a second element frictionally engageable by the first named element, a one-way driving connection between the second element and the other member of the clutch whereby said second element may be moved by said other clutch member and thereby move .the

permitting engagement of the clutch members when the said clutch members attain substantially synchronous speeds, and means independent of the clutch members for moving the first named element to the position permitting engagement of the clutch members.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a driving shaft, a driven'shaft, a clutch member rotatable with one of said shafts, a second clutch member rotatable with the other shaft, said clutch members having relative axial movement for permitting engagement and disengagement thereof, means for preventing reengagement of said clutch members after disengagement and until said members are rotating at substantially the same speed, said preventing means comprising an element connected for rotation with the first clutch member but capable of limited relative rotative movement thereto, means rotating with said first clutch member and cooperating with a portion of said element for preventing said clutch member from engaging the second clutch member when said element is in one of its relative rotative positions and permitting the clutch members to engage when the element is in another of its relative rotative positions, and means for moving the element by the second named clutch member and to the position permitting said clutch member to engage only when the second clutch member rotats at substantially the same speed as the first named clutch member, said means comprising a friction connection and a one-way driving connection in series between the element and the second clutch member.

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